As ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on February 12, 2015

H.R. 294 would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide long-term care in medical foster homes (MFHs) for certain veterans with severe service-connected disabilities. The bill also would limit the awards and bonuses paid to VA employees. On net, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would reduce discretionary costs by $253 million over the 2016-2020 period, subject to appropriation action consistent with the bill.

CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have analyzed S. 534, the Immigration Rule of Law Act of 2015, as introduced on February 23, 2015. The bill would permanently prohibit the Administration from implementing a series of policy initiatives with respect to deferred action, immigration, and enforcement that the President announced in November 2014. For this letter, CBO is only examining the effects the bill would have on revenues and direct spending.

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on February 12, 2015

H.R. 471 would modify certain administrative procedures followed by the Department of Justice in regulating legitimate uses of controlled substances. In addition, within one year of enactment, the bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to assess the effect of law enforcement activities on access to medications, examine potential benefits to patients from collaborations between governments and stakeholders, and report to the Congress on these matters.

As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on February 4, 2015

S. 209 would make various amendments to existing energy programs on tribal lands. Based on information provided by the affected agencies, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no significant effect on the federal budget over the 2015-2020 period. Because enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on February 12, 2015

H.R. 622 would amend the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the provision allowing taxpayers who itemize their tax deductions to elect to deduct state and local sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes. That provision expired at the end of tax year 2014.

The staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that enacting H.R. 622 would reduce revenues, thus increasing federal deficits, by about $42 billion over the 2015-2025 period.

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on February 11, 2015

H.R. 5 would amend and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (the ESEA, commonly referred to, in its most recently reauthorized form, as No Child Left Behind). The underlying authorizations for those programs have expired, although most have continued to receive appropriations since their authorizations have expired.

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on February 4, 2015

H.R. 636 would amend section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code, which mostly affects small- to medium-sized businesses, to retroactively and permanently extend from January 1, 2015, increased limitations on the amount of investment that can be immediately deducted from taxable income. H.R. 636 also would index the limitations for inflation and expand the definition of property that qualifies for that immediate deduction.

As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Finance on January 28, 2015

H.R. 22 would amend section 4980H(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code to provide that employees who have medical coverage under TRICARE or certain programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs would not be taken into account for purposes of determining whether the employer is large enough to be subject to employer responsibility payments under the Affordable Care Act.